Eric Mack On-Line

One of the productivity exercises I try to go through at least once each new year is to clear the decks of my productivity workspace. What that means is I remove from my office everything that isn't supplies, reference material, or decoration. I dump it into boxes and move it into the next room. What you see here is the result of that first step. this is my productivity cockpit, my flight deck for productive work....

I just received a Skype chat with a link to ABS-CBN news in Manila. I clicked on the link to see the feature article. There, I found a Special Feature by David Chavez Dizon, Senior Editor, ABD-CBN NEWS about my recent pre-conference planning visit to Manila for my upcoming eProductivity conference in November.

It's an interesting article and the reporter did a nice job of capturing portions of my presentation at the planning meeting. (If I had known I was being recorded I might have tried to say something really profound.) At the time he was recording, I had just given a big pitch for why I thought everyone should buy David Allen's book, Getting Things Done, and master the principles contained within. The video jumps in near the end of my 5-minute overview of what is GTD and how it works for me. Then, the video skips into our discussion about wild success for the conference. There's a link to a YouTube video at the bottom of the page.

Michael Sampson and I are meeting daily to work on the eProductivity session planning and to select content and finalize outlines for our next eProductivity advisor's meeting. I'm looking forward to the conference.

I've been working with Vanj Real, a very talented young lady assigned to create the promotional materials, videos, and web site for my eProductivity conference. We've been sending artwork back and forth across the Pacific and things are really looking good. Vanj does nice work!

Once I receive the final copy and the link to the new web site Vanj is creating, I will post the details here.

It's been a very successful trip; I'm departing tired, but satisfied. Before leaving I finalized the session titles with Michael. I think Michael's done an outstanding job of capturing the theme of the conference and session topics and creating titles that work. I'm privileged to have Michael as a friend and trusted advisor. Now, what remains, is to come up with an outline and presentation for each of these sessions. Fortunately, I won't have to do all of it alone. I'm blessed to have a number of outstanding experts in their own right contributing to my research and presentation. I'll tell you more about these people and the sessions they will be contributing to in an upcoming post. Meanwhile feel free to have a look at the session titles. (If you would like to contribute to the conference, let me know; full credit and resource opportunities will be given for all contributors.)

General Track Session 1: eProductivity: Using Information, Communication, and Action tools to get things done Beyond Toil: A Biblical Perspective on Work Beyond Working Hard: The eProductivity Equation

One of the things that surprised me about coming to Manila this week was the professionalism and attention to detail exhibited by the people preparing for this conference. I was surprised to walk down the hall and see an office -- with my name on it -- being set up for the conference.

The office was not for me, but for people assigned to work on planning, marketing, promoting, and preparing for the conference. in addition to the various committees, there are six people (that I know of) responsible for promotion, registration, event planning, and the print and web-site materials. I've been doing my best to learn everyone's name and now I have several new ones to learn. I will get someone to match the names I wrote down with all of the faces in the photos I am posting to the blog so that when I return next month I can greet everyone by name.

I'm appreciative to have the support from this staff and I look forward to helping them serve the people of Manila.

I've been invited to keynote and present an eProductivity conference, in Manila, Philippines, in late November. With an expected attendance of 7,000-10,000 people, the conference will be presented as a service to the people of Manila and will take place at the The Cathedral of Praise, a very large church in Manila with a building large enough to seat everyone. The Cathedral of Praise has a history of outreach and service to the people of the Philippines, both spiritually and physically, and I'm delighted to be a part of their service to the people of Manila.

This conference will be a wonderful opportunity to share thoughts and ideas on how to use information, communication, and action tools and technologies as well as best practices in productivity methodologies and workplace effectiveness with the audience. I'm most excited to be able to present not only some of my eProductivity tools and tips but also to introduce the audience to work by other business and productivity experts that have greatly influenced my own learning and work. My colleague, Michael Sampson, has agreed to help me coordinate the conference tracks. I've seen Michael's work at other conferences (e.g. Enterprise 2.0) and I'm honored to have him on my advance planning team.